Issue #042 · LatestMonday, October 26, 2026 · Sunny, high near 69 · early voting 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the City Hall Annex and United Methodist Church sites · Planning Board meets 7:00 PM at City Hall · Plaza Night at Anderson: Halloween Bash Thursday 6:00 PM · The Haunt returns to Wildcliff Friday 7:00 PM
Early voting moves to the morning window, the CCRB records fight hits a formal appeal, and every Halloween date lands this week
Free local email · Monday + Friday mornings · Written by Sabrina · 4-minute read
The fight over Civilian Complaint Review Board records moved to a formal appeal on Monday. Talk of the Sound filed a Freedom of Information Law appeal after the City missed repeated deadlines to produce records on CCRB training and the qualifications of individual board members. The column behind it lays out the pattern: nearly two years after the board was established, the October 1 meeting minutes show mandatory training still scheduled and bylaws still unfinished. The board is preparing to review completed Internal Affairs investigations, which makes the paperwork fight worth following. Publisher Robert Cox says he will file an Article 78 proceeding if the City fails to decide the appeal within the statutory ten-business-day window.
While the appeals clock runs, the voting clock shrinks for the workday crowd. Early voting runs 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM today at both New Rochelle sites, the City Hall Annex at 90 Beaufort Place and the United Methodist Church at 1200 North Avenue, day three of the nine-day window. Tuesday shifts to the late window, noon to 8:00 PM. Any county site works; you are not locked to your neighborhood poll until November 3.
The rest of the Halloween week lines up cleanly from here. Thursday brings Plaza Night at Anderson: Halloween Bash, 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Friday and Saturday belong to Wildcliff Mansion: The Haunt runs 7:00 to 10:30 PM both nights, and Little Haunters, the family-friendly no-scare version with trick or treating at the end, runs Saturday 4:00 to 7:30 PM. The Teen Room Halloween Fest at the Main Library rounds out Saturday, 2:00 to 5:00 PM. The week stays dry and mild for all of it: sunny today with a high near 69, and the sunshine holds through a warm Friday near 74.
The questions New Rochelle searches this week, answer first, source after.
Who runs New Rochelle's Civilian Complaint Review Board?
The board itself, and that is the problem right now. The CCRB is the civilian panel created to review New Rochelle Police Department misconduct complaints from outside the department. Nearly two years after the City established it, the October 1 meeting minutes show mandatory training still scheduled and bylaws still not adopted, so the board is only now preparing to review completed Internal Affairs investigations. Talk of the Sound's records requests about board member qualifications went unanswered past the legal deadlines, and the formal FOIL appeal landed Monday, October 26. If the City misses the ten-business-day decision window, the next stop is an Article 78 proceeding, the state court route for forcing an agency to act.
What is the brownfield comment window near Avalon One?
It runs to November 13. The State DEC is taking public comments on a Brownfield Cleanup Program application for the Shearwood Laundry and Petroleum Site at 2 Shearwood Place, the undeveloped lot across the street from Avalon One. The application came from Two Shearwood Station LLC, and the DEC documents are readable online through the DECinfo Locator or in person at the New Rochelle Public Library. Comments go to DEC project manager Michael Squire by mail or email before November 13, 2026. If the site's history matters to you, this is the window where the DEC has to read what you send.
When is Trick or Treating at the Shops at New Rochelle?
Nothing verified made it into this issue. The mall's own website did not resolve when I checked Monday morning, and no dated trick-or-treat listing turned up in the city or library calendars. If the Shops run one, it lives on their social channels; the verified family option on the calendar that day is Little Haunters at Wildcliff Mansion, Saturday 4:00 to 7:30 PM, no jump scares, with trick or treating at the end.
City Hall stacks two meeting nights this week, starting tonight. The Planning Board meets Monday, October 26 at 7:00 PM at City Hall, 515 North Avenue, and the calendar entry carries a watch-meeting link plus the agenda. The IDA follows Wednesday at 7:30 PM, also at City Hall, with a draft agenda packet already posted. Neither agenda carries a public hearing this round, so both are watch-and-note sessions for most residents.
One clock is worth setting anyway: the MTA rock chipping at the New Rochelle Yard, near the ShopRite parking lot on Palmer Avenue, runs weekdays 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM into early November for the new retaining wall. The MTA moved the noisy work out of overnight hours after complaints from a Homestead Place homeowner. Other Penn Station Access construction continues overnight, so the daytime move covers the chipping only. Project updates are on the MTA site, and the email notification list lets you pick your area.
Okay. If you go to one thing, the Planning Board tonight at 7:00 is the one with the floor open.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: ask an AI what a brownfield comment should say, then send your own before November 13.
Public comment windows reward people who send something specific. The hard part is getting from I am worried about that lot to here is my comment. An AI chat is good at that first step. Tell it what you know: the DEC is reviewing a Brownfield Cleanup Program application for the Shearwood Laundry and Petroleum Site at 2 Shearwood Place, the lot across from Avalon One, and comments close November 13. Ask it to turn your concern into a short letter that names the site, states one clear question about the cleanup plan, and asks for written notice of the decision.
Then do the part the AI cannot. Check the address, the deadline and the program details against the DEC's own documents before you send, because a chatbot can be a cycle behind on local facts. Send the comment yourself to the project manager listed in the DEC notice. The comment is yours; the AI only shaped it.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corner topics.
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the City Hall Annex, 90 Beaufort Place, and the United Methodist Church, 1200 North Avenue, or any of the county sites, day three of nine through November 1; Planning Board Meeting, 7:00 PM at City Hall, 515 North Ave; sunny, high near 69, clear tonight around 48
City Hall Annex & United Methodist Church · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 12:00 to 8:00 PM, the late window; sunny, high near 60
Early voting sites · county Board of Elections
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; New Rochelle IDA Meeting, 7:30 PM at City Hall; sunny, high near 62
City Hall · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 12:00 to 8:00 PM; Plaza Night at Anderson: Halloween Bash, 6:00 to 9:00 PM; sunny, high near 68
Early voting sites & Anderson Plaza · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; The Haunt at Wildcliff Mansion, 7:00 to 10:30 PM, admission $25, timed entry, Fast Pass and VIP options; sunny, high near 74
Early voting sites & Wildcliff Mansion · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, second-to-last day; Teen Room: Halloween Fest, 2:00 to 5:00 PM at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza; Little Haunters at Wildcliff Mansion, 4:00 to 7:30 PM, family-friendly no-scare with timed entry; The Haunt, 7:00 to 10:30 PM; mostly sunny, high near 67
Early voting sites, Main Library & Wildcliff Mansion · county Board of Elections, library calendar and city calendar
